MOON CAKES FOR COMPLETENESS AND UNITY

Today is the Mid-autumn Festival. Moon cakes are eaten only once a year around September in the Gregorian calendar. 

Centre courts of shopping malls are converted  to ancient Chinese villages with 

lanterns in infinite colours to attract and entice us to buy boxes of these delicacies for family or as gifts. 

Each cake is sealed in plastic to keep the flavours fresh and packed in sets of 

four different flavours in elaborate exquisite boxes, even a hand bag.

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These traditional cakes contain no butter or eggs but lotus paste from dried lotus seeds with

a whole salted duck egg in the centre. 

For the uninitiated, I suggest just the plain lotus cake to start with. The salted duck egg in contrast to the sweetness of the cake is an acquired taste. 

Here is Jocelyn and friends in Adelaide with their home-made moon cakes. 

Starting with coloured dough, square and round moulds, and pattern tops, this group of friends bond together to

give the true message that moon cakes are not just food, but a celebration of togetherness.

These traditions keep a culture alive -  that the Hungry Ghost Festival has ended and it is time 

to celebrate the abundant autumn harvest with love ones under a bright new moon.

CHINESE MOON WALK

Not the famed Michael Jackson moonwalk, but rather a lantern walk on a full moon night. The Chinese will be celebrating their Mid-Autumn festival on 21st September. Eons ago, the Chinese believe that the moon on the 15th day of the eight month of the Chinese lunar calendar was the biggest and brightest. This was also the time for the Autumn harvests and families got together to light lanterns and eat moon cakes. 

In the past, good wishes were written on the lanterns that were released into the skies and waters. 

Today, the lanterns are taken for a walk under the watch of the full moon. 

It is a difficult task choosing lanterns. There are infinite varieties in vibrant colours. The traditional ones come in folded paper, one just had to pull apart like an accordion, stick a candle in and viola ... all set for the lantern parade.

Then we have the intricate traditional ones made from wires twisted into animal shapes, 

aeroplanes or whatever takes the maker's fancy. The wire frames are enveloped in transparent cellophane, painted to enhance the design and lastly tied to a bamboo stick.

In today's language these creations would be called "artisan lanterns!"

With the advance of technology, lanterns have also "evolved" to plastic ones 

with an artificial light from a battery. The hearts above the seven dwarfs provide music.

The candles in the traditional lanterns have to be replaced frequently. These lanterns catch fire easily. We learnt how to relight our lanterns safely. Kids walked around with boxes of candles and matches in their pockets. We got some wax burns on our hands and that's about it. But this will be a huge NO, NO today! Kids DO NOT play with matches!!

Lantern gathering in the park.

And when we finally thought we had outgrown this silly MOON walk, 

we started again with our own kids! I prefer these traditional cellophane lanterns. The colours just bounce off the cellophane and dance on the roads. These are also environmental friendly and can be recycled for another year. 

The Mid-autumn festival and lantern parade under the full moon 

will live on as an everlasting tradition.

CAKES TO START A REVOLUTION

Moon cake festival is celebrated on the 15th day of the eight month, on the night of a full moon. It falls on October 3rd this year. The festival has its origins from the 14th century when during this period, China was ruled by the Mongols. Unknown to the Mongol rulers, moon cakes with secret messages inside were distributed to the citizens during the Mid-Autum Festival. The messages contained information on plans to coordinate a revolution to overthrow the Mongols. The revolution was a success and moon cakes now commemorate the legend.
The cakes come in many varieties in beautiful boxes and paper bags. Moon cakes are exchanged as gifts during this time.

The baked golden skin (outer layer) of the cake contains Chinese symbols of the Mid-Autum Festival. They are very sweet and rich in flavour and is nevert eaten as a whole, but cut into wedges and shared. When the moon cake is cut into half, the full moon (duck egg yolk) clearly stands out in the centre of the brown lotus paste filling.

The traditional ones are filled with a sweet lotus seed paste with a single salted duck egg yolk (represents the full moon). You can order moon cakes with double, triple or four duck egg yolks (this is way too extravagant for me even though I love duck eggs). The cakes with the egg yolks are an acquired taste. Imagine eating a sweet cake with the subtle flavour of a slated duck egg yolk, not mixed into the batter like Western cakes, but baked as a entire egg yolk.